Last Satellite Factory Of Yard Closing Doors

July 29, 1994|By LISA HUBER Daily Press

Greenville Industries, the last of Newport News Shipbuilding's satellite factories, will close today.

The shipyard announced in April its plans to close the Greenville, Tenn., subsidiary and move its work to Newport News. Workers at the facility made small welded parts such as ventilators and tanks for ships and submarines built in Newport News.

The closing will put almost all 287 people at the factory out of work and bring shipyard employment to about 20,810 - its lowest level since 1970.

A handful of the workers will remain to help close down the plant, said yard spokesman Jack A. Garrow.

The closing is part of the yard's plan to cut up to 7,150 people by the end of 1996 due to a decline in defense contracts. It comes four months after the yard closed its other satellite factory, Asheville Industries in Asheville, N.C.